Ithaca Trap

[Researcher]

The engraving log of Bill Mains and Jacqueline Favre who did the engraving from 1971 to the end (240405496 to 240405739) is reproduced in Frank Conley's book The American Single Barrel Trap Gun. There were 228 guns done by them. About fifteen serial numbers were skipped. Either those guns were not built or shipped to other engravers. No guns were built from December 11, 1973 to May 21, 1975. The last gun on their list is 240405739, shipped back to Ithaca 6-9-82, a No. 5E.

To my eye the Knick is pretty simple and I'd think the parts could be belched out by a CNC machine, and with a little hand work on the sear notch, they could be made pretty cheap. But then Ljutics don't come cheap and they look like they were made in someone's basement to me.

[jeffery c]

Originally Posted by Harry Gietler

I new Bill back in the 60s and 70s up to the time He moved to Las Vegas. He worked at a gun shop called G&R Tackle. He was a very nice guy. I watched him many times as He engraved many fine guns. He also had a line of custom high quality knives. Harry

I wonder how Ithaca found him, Harry? I suppose at some point, only making twenty guns a year, having an in-house engraver didn't make sense. Did he ever discuss how he came to work for Ithaca with you?

[Bill Murphy]

I was manning my tables at the Easton, Maryland gun show many years ago, a bunch of nice side by sides on the tables. An older gentleman and a companion hung out in front of the tables showing much interest. One man asked about one of my guns and I handed it to him to examine. His comments lead me to say, "You seem to know a bit about these guns. My name is Bill Murphy." He replied, "I know a little, and like them a lot. My name is Bill Jaqua, glad to meet you, Bill."

[ArtS]

Originally Posted by Harry Gietler

Yes. He worked for G&R at that time .Ithaca put out their engraving by bid. The owner of the gun shop was lowest bidder and got the contract.The knive part of G&R was called Heritage Knives and Bill did the engraveing on them. Harry

Bill died relatively recently. The official biography by his family is an interesting read. Google his name.

It is my understanding he also did the work on the later Ithaca double revival. He was a fixture on the trapshooting circuit and best known there. He had a trailer equipped for engraving and did onsite work at shoots. One of his specialties was custom grip caps which he could turn out quickly. He was trained as a goldsmith and often included it with his engraving. I have a very early Beretta S2 I purchased from a member here that had very nice and tasteful gold work added to the original engraving pattern to enhance it. The rest of the gun was refurbished. It is stunning work and one of the best handling game guns I have ever used.